Just started having a few bits and pieces arrive, so rather than make a bunch of threads and clutter I figure I'll dump stuff here as I do it. First photos - from the advert I bought it off. First mod, bought myself a full boot with spoiler off a breaker and replaced it Those wheels though, look at the state of them! So, after looking around here and the german forums, I decided to stick with 15's but 5" wide rather than 4.5", same offset, wearing 195/45 tyres. Dezent Ti 5jx15, 4x100pcd, 45 offset on Uniroyal Rainsport 3 195/45/R15 with kerbing rib, was £460 total from tyres-outlet and included a fitting kit, which turned out to be very important! It included thin spigots for the centre bore but I was surprised they put in a full set of wheel nuts too. I'd already bought 20 shiny chrome MX5 wheel nuts ready. Unfortunately, the garage's sockets didn't fit into the holes in the wheel round the MX5 nuts, I'm going to try my torque wrench tomorrow but it was lucky I'd gotten a full set of nuts with the wheels, since I'd thrown the grotty old nuts straight into the skip. Not a huge difference in size, 5.5mm more sidewall so 11mm diameter but it looks to fill the arch much better to my eyes, 30mm wider, no difference in scrub, and while close the tyres are still within the arches without needing any rolling. I currently have them at 32psi since I wanted to see them on and make sure they didn't 'balloon' at all, tread looks perfectly flat at that presssure, I'll increase it when it's not freezing outside but probably keep it a little below 36 at least. The nuts supplied aren't actually bad, not chromed but fairly shiny and don't stick out too far, if you look how much they dwarf my Copen/MX5 sized locking wheel nut though that's a bit ugly, so I still want my chrome nuts on. I'd love to tell you how it's affected the handling. But in an hour's drive giving a friend a lift I never got over 20mph, friday afternoon is a nightmare!
I also spotted another Copen while I was on Ebay looking for bits, a Wonda Coffee version... It was £5, I had to get it 2" long, it's a pull-back-and-go promotional toy. I'm probably going to mount it somewhere on my dashboard, maybe find a clear cover for it or just use the base, it clips into it.
This is a 1:27 scale model that's compatible with a 'Mini Z' remote controlled car chassis. But, those chassis are £200. Second hand! KYOSHO MINI-Z LIT AUTOSCALE COLLECTION 1/27, DAIHATSU COPEN, MCG002S
Oh, I remember the Mini Z RC cars from back when I did 1:10 scale as a hobby, never had one though. I have always been a Tamiya guy I would not shell out 200 quid for it though, I'd rather spend it on petrol and have a go in the 1:1 scale model
Couple more bits, I was getting really irritated at the OEM stereo skipping on CD's every time I hit a pothole so I got a new stereo off Gearbest, £38 -I don't need most of the extras on fancier versions, as long as I have Bluetooth my phone can handle music and GPS. Came with a steering wheel control, remote control, rearview camera, not using the steering wheel control but I intend to wire the camera up when we get some better weather and I'm feeling productive. USB port for charging my phone, microSD card slot if I want to stick some music into the stereo itself. Hardest part was getting the fascia off, the walkthrough on here helped tons but that first clip...arrrgghh! Next up, my new gearknob! Satin finish knob for a Subara Impreza, which has the same gearknob fitting so it screws straight on. Unless a previous owner put a crappy generic gearknob with clamp screws and messed up your thread like mine, in which case it screws about halfway on :/ Seems secure enough for now, I just don't like the exposed thread.
Try chasing the thread with a die. You might be able to clean it up enough to enable the knob to go all the way...
Just need to find someone who has a die, my best candidate for borrowing tools is working in Saudi Arabia -I think he takes his garage keys and the keys to his Triumph GT6 with him
No rain so far today, so I switched my wheel nuts for the chrome MX5 ones, my own socket on my torque wrench fit into the holes fine. They're much shorter and much shinier. I don't actually trust the sky though, so my induction kit is still waiting to go, just added some chrome bits for today, and polished my seats.
Ok, so today I went out and fitted my induction kit. It does NOT fit. But I bloody well made it because I'd completely destroyed the standard airbox getting it out. This is the one I bought, it's just very slightly too big, I ended up having to trim about 1cm off the inside corner of the bumper and it's completely jammed in. Universal Typhoon Cold Air Intake Induction System Kit With Air Box & Filter might be a better fit and it's cheaper, I just didn't fancy the weight of the aluminium. There are a grand total of TWO different induction kits with an enclosed filter that I could find and I really don't like open filters. I used Superspat's thread as a starting point and bought a Toyota Starlet intercooler hose, 2" of 42mm silicone pipe and used those for the connection. Unfortunately I didn't cut the hole quite right and the MAP sensor is stuck up a bit. That's the end of the induction pipe just to the right of the filter, it isn't ideal but I couldn't get it through to anywhere better without cutting or taking the front bumper and wing off. Everything actually fits together pretty well, but I taped it up a bit anyway. I haven't even used the actual fixing kit that came with it, there's literally nowhere it can go - the induction pipe coming out of the bottom is touching the base and while you can't see it from the front, the rear lip of the carbon box is actually jammed under a metal ridge. Sound is much much better, it sounded as if it was choking to death at high revs, now it roars, seems to pick up faster too but hard to tell, only had a quick spin, off out again now.
After numerous attempts to pull the handbrake handle off, I savagely attacked it with a pair of pliers and literally tore it off in several pieces, turns out it's glued on - You could probably work it loose by jerking it side to side eventually if you really wanted it undamaged. The handbrake knob simply screwed off. I screwed on my shiny chrome handbrake knob from Sakura car, and glued on my shiny chrome handbrake handle from Chromdesign.
I'd held off on more bling while the dreaded MOT came up, however she passed it without any problems meaning it's time once more to channel Xzibit. Simple jobs first, new gearstick gaitor and sunvisor covers.
I also got a cover for the speedo surround, but I'm really dubious about fitting it myself, the actual surround came off easily but getting the leather flat and in place might be beyond me.
Argh, now I get it...Vin Diesel...Vin Petrol I also have the speedometer cover and it was a pain to get it to stick without creases, yours looks quite good
No, I will be doing at some point but I haven't ordered any yet - I have saved the link though from another thread on here. Lockwood Daihatsu Copen CREAM (ST) Dial Kit 400V | eBay
Well I fitted the speedo surround, not a perfect job but it was a total pain in the ass, I'd paint or wrap it instead unless you really want the leather and you're good at that stuff. Had to trim around the clips, cut slices so it wound fit around and trim the corners flush so the bloody thing would go back on the car. Not worth £40 and all the effort imo, tin of paint or rubber dip or wrap is much better choice. After that it was a total relief when the postie turned up with a Japanese package -yet again Sakura_car had an accidental typo in the value box and I didn't end up paying any duties or tax. Nice shiny Rainbow Side Indicators which I put chrome bulbs in. This one was an excellent choice unlike the speedo surround, 5 minute job, £25 for the indicators and £4.20 for the chrome bulbs and looks a lot better than the whitish standard ones with the orange centers. The indicators do come with orange bulbs, but £4 for chrome is worth it. ## Daihatsu Copen Side Indicator light, Diamand Cut, Rainbow, Brand NEW ## | eBay 2 x 501 T10 W5W SILVER CHROME Side Indicators Repeater Car Bulbs | eBay Darren Rothwell <---Click for FB video of side indicator
Little bit of cheap and easy DIY bling done, my 12mm aluminium cover buttons arrived, as did my 3m double-sided foam tape and mother's mag & aluminium polish. Easiest thing I've done to my car ever and I love how it looks. One tip to add to the guide, don't stick the tape inside the back of the buttons, put the tape on the vent knob. Otherwise it's a total pain peeling the backing off.
More button mods, this time 15mm buttons filled with epoxy with a magnet stuck in the middle and polished up. I think a 17 or 19mm would be better though, it covers the actual keyhole but not the sloped rim around it. 22mm rests on the outside of the inner metal rim and sticks out too far for my liking. Maybe I'll just try giving the lock rim a really good polish...
